Introduction
Nowadays, cultural agents play a critical role in the organization and have a direct impact on both individual and collective learning. Paying attention to these concepts is highly important since they can either increase the efficiency and productivity of the employees or not. For example, the workers, who were employed in the company with the laid-back leadership style, might find it difficult to adapt to working in the organization with the values such as respect for authority and punctuality. This fact implies that the management of the school or any other organization has to focus on providing effective orientation programs to ensure fast adaptation. Consequently, the primary goal of the essay is to analyze cultural agents in my organization, describe them, and understand their impact on individual and organizational learning.
Adapting to work in the organization
In the first place, my organization celebrates several holidays and ceremonies such as The Prophet’s Ascension/Leilat al-Meiraj, Ramadan, Eid-al-Fitr, National Day in the UAE, and Islamic New Year/ Al-Hijra. These holidays reflect specifics of the culture of the UAE and show that the company respects the customs. Speaking of common values and organizational structure of the enterprise, the punctuality is supported, and it is not allowed to be late without any explanation provided. When being late frequently, the employees will be charged with the penalty that is taken from their salary. Furthermore, absenteeism without a valid reason (sick leave, issues in the family, a sick child) is also not encouraged while being also being penalized. Nonetheless, apart from strict regulations, my organization rewards employees with a pay-for-performance approach, flexible hours, gifts, an employee of the month certificate, days off, company-branded products, and paid courses for professional development.
As for the walls, they are decorated with different pictures such as landscapes of the UAE, portraits of authorities, and photos of employees. The workers are not prohibited from decorating the walls with personal pictures including photos taken from vacations. The management ensures that the walls are painted in time to make the office look clean and appealing. At the same time, one of the walls is occupied with a notice board that contains important information for teachers (for example fire drill). As for the workplaces, several posters are hung in different parts of the building that indicate the existing and future goals. The offices are decorated with plants, company-related images, and personal photos and pictures of the employees. Each teacher has a personal desk in the classroom, and they are allowed to bring additional decorations and items to their workstations, especially, during holidays and celebrations. The conference rooms are supplied with all the required equipment but they are not decorated, and the large meeting room can have 30-35 employees at once. A combination of these factors makes working spaces well-organized and creates favorable working conditions for the employees.
My organization uses different adaptation programs to welcome new students and workers, as it is necessary to describe the main rules and values. The orientation program for new workers lasts for one week, but more days can be added per request. After the completion of the first phase, the second program is organized, and it takes three weeks to complete it. As for students, the management developed a specific one-week orientation program that cannot be extended. Having these programs is critical since they help newcomers adapt to a new environment and become active participants in the organizational community.
Conclusion
In the end, the analysis of my organization shows that cultural agents are reflected in the company’s rules, values, celebrations, and decorations. It also indicates that educational institutions and other enterprises have to provide effective orientation programs to ensure rapid adaptation to a new environment. Due to the differences in cultures, employees can have entirely different methods and approaches to learning, and using an inappropriate one may decrease productivity. For example, collective learning may not be discovered as an effective strategy if there are inconsistencies in the organizational and individual methods implemented by school managers and employees. Overall, it is important to pay vehement attention to cultural agents and events in school to understand how culture in the enterprise can be managed and how it may influence individual and collective learning, as this approach will help develop effective adaptation strategies.